Initiative promoter Tim Eyman (photo left, bio here), who is well known to Washington voters, has been ordered to pay the state $2.9 million “for costs and fees related to the campaign finance lawsuit brought against him by Attorney General Bob Ferguson … in addition to the $2.6 million[...]
Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category
Brace for a ketchup shortage
We’re still in a pandemic, and supply chain disruptions continue. Restaurants may reopen soon, but diners may be eating ketchup-less french fries. “After enduring a year of closures, employee safety fears and start-stop openings, many American restaurants are now facing a nationwide ket[...]
April 4th, 2021 - 1:18 pm § in America, Donald Trump, Economics, Humor, Misc., News Media, Politics, Racism, Schools & Colleges
Bad, bad boomers!
“I’m not a fan of baby boomers,” begins this Vox article. “And no, it’s not really fair to paint an entire generation with the same brush, but I’m doing it anyway,” the writer — somebody I’ve never heard of — continues. “Hopefully, the boomers wi[...]
How to save coal towns
Not by bringing back coal jobs, as Trump tried to do (unsuccessfully). Even without climate change, coal would have disappeared from the energy mix, a victim of competition from cheap natural gas (and, now, cheap solar power). The decline of coal has been an economic disaster in West Virginia and pa[...]
Suez Canal reopens, but have ships gotten too big?
It’s no coincidence that the ship which blocked the Suez Canal for six days is longer than the canal is wide. Piled high with containers, it caught strong desert winds like a sail and jackstrawed into the bank. Stretching from bank to bank, and then some, it was firmly wedged in — and ha[...]
House passes pro-union bill
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed “labor groups’ top legislative priority, a bill aimed at strengthening workers’ rights to unionize,” setting the stage for a Senate battle over labor rights. Labor unions arguably created America’s middle class by raising wage[...]
Kenya’s energy bonanza
Tectonic movement is tearing Africa apart, and along the fracture line (photo below), the earth’s molten rock comes close enough to the surface to create steam that can be captured by economically feasible wells. The steam can then be used to drive turbines that generate electricity. On the h[...]
Biden signals support for unions
During the fall campaign, President Biden promised to be “the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen.” Those weren’t empty words. He immediately fired the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel and deputy general counsel, both Trump appointees. On Sunday, February 28, [...]
China doesn’t have all the world’s “rare earths”
“Rare earth” elements are metals that figure prominently in “green energy” technologies because of their use in electronics and electric motors (some are highly magnetic). For technical details, read Wikipedia article here. “Rare earths” aren’t actually rare[...]
Why a wealth tax may be a bad idea
“A slew of Democrats on Capitol Hill” including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have “proposed a 3% total annual tax on wealth exceeding $1 billion” and 2% on $50 million to $1 billion, The Hill reported on Monday, March 1, 2021. Read story here. The aim of the[...]